New Jersey as a colony and as a state : one of the original thirteen . preserved in silver in the of-fice of the secretary of state, as well asthe original report of September 6, 1776. Acomparison of the wording of the resolution andthe seal itself, from which the original of the ac-companying impression was made, discloses somestriking points of difference. It will be noticedthat beneath the horses head of the crest an earlshelmet has been placed, that ornate mantling ap-pears above the supporters, and that below theescutcheon the date MDCCLXXVI has beeninserted. No legislative sanction exist
New Jersey as a colony and as a state : one of the original thirteen . preserved in silver in the of-fice of the secretary of state, as well asthe original report of September 6, 1776. Acomparison of the wording of the resolution andthe seal itself, from which the original of the ac-companying impression was made, discloses somestriking points of difference. It will be noticedthat beneath the horses head of the crest an earlshelmet has been placed, that ornate mantling ap-pears above the supporters, and that below theescutcheon the date MDCCLXXVI has beeninserted. No legislative sanction exists for thesealterations. That Du Simitiere exceeded his authority isshown by the fact that in many of the printedrepresentations of the great seal, upon the title-pages of State laws, the printers discarded bothhelmet and date and made their own designsbased on the report of 1776. Throughout the range of New Jerseys officialpublications, as is shown by Eugene Ziebers Heraldry in America, no less than a score of de-signs of the great seal are to be found. The sup- -^. I OKEAT SEAL OF GEORGE I. ONY AND AS A STATE 337 porters are often reversed, whilst the horses headfaces either dexter or sinister. The widest liber-ties were taken with the supporter Ceres, hercornucopia being in all imaginable positions. Oft-en the representations border on the ludicrous, asin many cases the supporters are clad in what ap-pear to be bombazine petticoats. Not until Mor-ton A. Stilles^ edition of the laws of 1854 is thereany attempt toward artistic execution of the sealon the part of State printers. A variety of mottoes occur, but among theearliest is that used in the Joseph Justice editionof the laws (1821), wherein the words Libertyand Prosperity are found. This is now the recog-nized motto of New Jersey when such is used, butis distinctively descriptive of the supporters, andhas never been authorized by act or resolution. It was not until May, 1777, that the great sealexecuted by Du Simitiere was
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Keywords: ., bookauthorleefranc, bookcentury1900, bookdecade1900, bookyear1902
